Man Sentenced for Participation in Drug Conspiracy in Halifax

U.S. Attorney’s Office
November 16, 2009

Eastern District of North Carolina(919) 856-4530

WILMINGTON—United States Attorney George E.B. Holding announced that in federal court on November 12, 2009, Senior United States District Judge James C. Fox sentenced RECO LARUE JOHNSON, 34, of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, to 210 months' imprisonment for his participation in a drug conspiracy operating in and around Halifax County.

JOHNSON has been in custody since his arrest on November 13, 2008. According to investigators, JOHNSON’s participation in the conspiracy dated back to mid-2005. In February 2007, JOHNSON delivered approximately 250 grams of crack cocaine to an individual cooperating with law enforcement. In August 2007, law enforcement officials found more drugs and also firearms during the execution of search warrants at JOHNSON’s residence and the residence of a girlfriend of JOHNSON. According to the investigation, JOHNSON was accountable for obtaining and/or distributing 10 kilograms of cocaine, 950 grams of crack cocaine and 258 kilograms of marijuana, and possession of firearms during the conspiracy. JOHNSON was sentenced as a career offender as a result of multiple prior felony drug convictions.

The investigation in this case was led by North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and Nash County Sheriff’s Office, and is also part of Operation Burnout, an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, and Nash County Sheriff’s Office, targeting multi-level distributors of cocaine,“crack”cocaine,” and marijuana in and around Halifax County and Nash County. To date, 23 drug traffickers have been arrested on federal drug charges as part of this investigation.

Mr. Holding commented, “The investigators assigned to this OCDETF case have done a tremendous job and we are grateful for their hard work in removing drug traffickers from this district. We know there is more work to be done, and we intend on continuing to partner with these agencies in our effort to dismantle the drug distribution network operating in and around Nash County and Halifax County.”

Assistant United States Attorney Josh Royster served as the prosecutor for the government.